


The Journalist's Room

by PandoraTheExplorer



Category: Super Danganronpa Another 2 ~ The Moon of Hope And The Sun of Despair
Genre: Also it makes more sense that the Voids are babey, Angst, Canon Compliant, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, If you don't understand the age twist tell me I'll tell you about all the foreshadowing, Introspection, Iroha is a coward and she knows this, Linuj's Q&A wasn't from a reliable source nor did he mention doing a Q&A, Nikei is a tsundere, The Voids are high-school aged based on chapter 6, Therefore I don't consider it canon, Void as a big dumb family, suicide ideation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:42:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25606054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandoraTheExplorer/pseuds/PandoraTheExplorer
Summary: It was a tradition for the four Voids, and had been for the past few years. Every time the group met to discuss leads they found on their quest, they would stay the night in their host’s-usually their leader, Nikei’s-home just for the hell of it.It was because of this tradition that, on the second night of the class’s stay on the Monocruise, Emma led Iroha to the boys’ dormitories.ORThe private discussions of the Children of Utsuro, as they try to survive the killing game.
Relationships: Hajime Makunouchi&Emma Magorobi&Nikei Yomiuri&Iroha Nijiue, Nikei Yomiuri&Iroha Nijiue
Comments: 28
Kudos: 47
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	1. The Sketch

**Author's Note:**

> SDRA2 is kind of a niche fandom, but this fangame is so good that I can't help but write something for it! Expect more SDRA2 fics in the future. Maybe. University is starting, though, so no promises.
> 
> There's barely a dozen fics of SDRA2 on this site and I've cycled through most of them like 8 times already. If you're reading this you probably know what SDRA2 is but if you don't then GO LOOK IT UP!!! WATCH THE PLAYTHROUGHS!!!!!! MAKE MORE CONTENT ON SDRA2 PLEASE I NEED MORE READING MATERIAL FROM THIS FANDOM.
> 
> I've been trying to figure out the characterizations of the Voids-especially the more ambiguous characters, Nikei and Iroha, for almost a year now. This chapter was written before the release of chapter 6, but I've since edited it so it completely aligns with what was revealed in chapter 6. Enjoy!

It was a tradition for the four Voids, and had been for the past few years. Every time the group met to discuss leads they found on their quest, they would stay the night in their host’s-usually their leader, Nikei’s-home just for the hell of it. It started as a simple “It’s too dark to take the train” and a “I forgot to book a hotel for the trip,” but by the time the Voids entered their stasis pods for the killing game, it was not uncommon to see three teens sprawled across someone’s living room, sleeping soundly after a visit for the sake of discussing clues or processing trauma or simply visiting a friend.

It was because of this tradition that, on the second night of the class’s stay on the Monocruise, Emma led Iroha to the boys’ dormitories. Her giggles drowned out Iroha’s meek complaints that they weren’t allowed there. Hajime sighed as he looked away from the peephole on his door. They were lucky that he was the one standing so close to his door instead of someone like Syobai. 

“I could hear you from my room,” Hajime hissed, pushing open his door. “Will you two be quiet? Girls aren’t supposed to be here.”

“The rooms are soundproof. You only heard us because you were going to head out too, right?” Emma asked, drawing out the last word. 

“Everyone’s settled in their own rooms now,” Hajime said, “I was going to grab you two and head to Nikei’s room to celebrate.”

“We’re here,” Iroha whispered, “Come on. Let’s go before anyone sees us.”

Nikei tensed when he heard a knock on his door. Reassuring himself that no one in their right mind would try to murder during their second night, he looked in his peephole and relaxed when he found his team standing at his door.

“What the hell are you doing?” he sneered, stepping aside and holding the door open as Hajime, Emma, and Iroha entered his room, “We’re not supposed to be affiliated with each other!”

Hajime clapped a hand on his former leader’s shoulder. “C’mon, dude. We made it! Let’s hang out!”

“Tch,” Nikei scoffed, “Fine. You have to get out before morning, though. I don’t want to explain why two girls were in a room with Hajime and me.”

So the four Voids lounged in Nikei’s room. Nikei leaned on his couch and wrote an article about the events of that day. Iroha, perched on Hajime’s back as he did push-ups, illustrated the scenes the reporter described. Emma sat beside Nikei and braided his shoulder-length hair, while Nikei pretended not to notice lest he had to tell her to stop.

“Hajime,” Emma murmured absentmindedly, “Have you come up with a plan yet?”

“It’s only the second day, Emma,” Hajime grumbled, “Give me some time. Besides, even if I do have a plan, I’m not allowed to tell you.” Before entering the game, Mikado had reinforced into their heads that no one, not even fellow Voids, are allowed to know the culprit of a murder beforehand. For anyone to do so would be punishable by execution.

“Yours is the hanging one, right?” Nikei asked.

“Yeah,” Hajime replied, “And the one with the gender stuff.”

“Maybe kill someone at the dorms?” Iroha suggested, “If someone died in the girls’ dorms, people will think it’s a girl that did it, right?”

Hajime clicked his tongue. “There’s no rule saying boys aren’t allowed in the girls’ dorm, though. I’ll think of something else.”

“You’ll figure something out,” Emma said, “Don’t get too _hung up_ about it.” She snickered while the other three groaned.

Hajime, strong as he was, could only do push-ups for so long before he and Iroha plopped down on the couch beside Emma and Nikei and loosened his ponytail so Emma would have some longer hair to play with. And thus the night droned on. The four Voids sat together in a silence that was only broken by Emma’s occasional pun and Hajime’s following groan and the soft scratches of Nikei’s pen and Iroha’s pencil on paper.

There wasn’t any purpose to this meeting. There stopped being a purpose long ago. But sometimes, Hajime enjoyed the company of people who had the guts to remind him that over-exercising can be unhealthy too. Emma revelled in the chance to share obnoxious puns and lose her temper if she liked, without the threat of violence or publicity. Nikei liked having people who respected and appreciated him for his abilities, and, as much as he hated to admit it, who he respected and appreciated in return. And Iroha found it comforting to be with people that would cover for her and forgive her for any mistake.

It was after the sixth hairstyle Emma tried on Hajime that she felt Nikei’s head shift and press onto her shoulder. She chuckled as she glanced at him. The reporter leaned on Emma as he slept, his right hand loosely clutching a pen that left a soft line on his notepad. Hajime was studying Iroha’s sketch, so Emma tapped his head to get both their attention.

“Aww,” Hajime whispered.

“Don’t move,” Iroha said, “I’m gonna draw him.”

A few minutes later, after Iroha had finished a detailed sketch of the scene, Hajime gently shifted to their leader’s other side and took his hat and jacket off before carrying the reporter to his bed. Nikei hummed and muttered something in his sleep, but was silent again once Iroha had tucked him in.

Hajime, Emma, and Iroha gathered on the couch again, Iroha resuming her sketches and Emma resuming her braiding. But barely ten minutes passed before Iroha, too, let out a huge yawn.

“We should probably go back,” Hajime suggested, “Wasn’t there a rule saying you weren’t allowed to sleep in another student’s room?”

Emma wondered if Mikado purposely put in that rule so the Voids won’t all sleep in each others’ rooms until morning and blow their covers. “Yeah,” she said, “It’s getting late.”

“We’ll do this again some other time, right?” Iroha asked as Hajime parted from their group to head to his room.

“’Course,” Hajime replied, “We’ll all have a sleepover after we do our murders when Mikado lets us out of the simulation. See you guys.”

~

A day later, Hajime offhandedly mentioned Iroha’s sketch. Face red, Nikei cornered Iroha in the hallway and demanded that she give it to him.


	2. The Impostor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dude I watched the playthroughs so many times to get the general timeline of the story right. Anyway you know how the Voids were all uncooperative and upset the day after the first trial but were suddenly super friendly the day after that? Yeah they probably had a meeting about that.

A few hours after Teruya Ootori was introduced to their class, Iroha leaned against her door as a visitor cautiously knocked on it a second time. Perhaps it’s a scared student coming to kill her. For a second she contemplated opening the door. It was her turn to kill next, anyway. Being murdered can’t possibly hurt more than being executed by Mikado like Hajime was.

Before she could make up her mind, Emma’s voice whispered through the door and asked Iroha if she was okay. Wordlessly, she opened the door and buried her face in Emma’s chest as the taller girl stroked her hair.

“Come on,” Emma murmured and gently tugged Iroha out of her room.

“Isn’t it risky?” Iroha asked.

“Some risks are worth taking,” Emma whispered.

Iroha didn’t see what that had to do with the situation at hand, but she allowed Emma to guide her to the boys’ dorms, where she gently knocked on Nikei’s door.

Nikei opened the door a crack to hiss at the other Voids to go away. But as he glanced through the gap, he paused. Emma stared at him pleadingly. Unlike Iroha, whose eyes were still puffy from her breakdown that morning, Emma’s face betrayed no emotion-that is, to anyone who didn’t know her well. Nikei knew it was a facade for Iroha’s sake. How many times had he put up the same facade?

“Please,” Emma said quietly.

Nikei wouldn’t say that he cared about the Voids as friends. They were a great help to him in his search for Utsuro, even if they ended up picking Mikado as their leader over him. But they have spent quite a bit of time together in the past few years. Hajime, Emma, and Iroha were the only ones who could even begin to understand the pain he endured-the pain they all endured-before he received Utsuro’s blessing.

Nikei didn’t care about the Voids one bit. But he was still shaking, even a day later, from Hajime’s death. And the sorrow buried in Emma’s soft gaze, and the slight tremble of Iroha’s bottom lip that caught his attention every so often-something about it sent sharp pains through his chest.

He opened the door fully and allowed his teammates to enter. Iroha stumbled to his couch and lay down on it, curling into a ball. When she glanced up, Nikei and Emma had sat down on either side of her, and were glancing back and forth in a silent conversation.

“D’you think I can convince someone to kill me?” Iroha mumbled. She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but the other two Voids looked down at her in surprise anyway. “It’ll be like the first game,” she rambled on, “I’ll just find someone to kill me and write a dying message to give them away like the girl in Utsuro’s game did. I can’t hide a murder. If I try to get away with it I’ll die for sure.”

“Won’t you die anyway if you trick someone into killing you?” Nikei wondered.

Emma gently slapped Nikei’s arm. “Don’t scare her like that,” she said.

“I guess,” Iroha said, “I don’t wanna die like-like Hajime.”

Both Nikei and Emma were thinking of that name before, but neither of them wanted to be the first to bring it up. Emma just sighed and shifted to allow Iroha to lay her head on her lap. Nikei turned away from the girls, not sure how to react.

“I’m gonna be killed,” Iroha said, her voice breaking, “Soon everyone will figure out we’re Voids and someone will kill me.” Her breath hitched and she buried her face in Emma’s fur coat. “It’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt so much. I’m scared. I don’t want to die.”

Nikei stiffly reached out to pat Iroha on the shoulder, but the ensuing action made it seem more like he was robotically dusting something off of her poncho instead. Emma stroked Iroha’s hair and glanced at Nikei. Her voice was even when she spoke next, but the look on her face betrayed her distress.

“When Master Utsuro comes back,” Emma said, “he will help us. Hajime, you, and me-everyone who dies will be brought back after the simulation ends. His fortune will save us all.”

“Will it?” Nikei grumbled. He threw up his hands when Emma glared at him. “I’m just saying! We can’t ask Master Utsuro to help us if Mikado executes us all and put us in comas!”

Iroha only sobbed harder at that. Emma continued to stroke her hair. “Master Utsuro will help us,” she said, “Remember what we talked about, Iroha? You have to think positive.”

Iroha nodded. “What about the rest of the class?” she whimpered, “They’re trying to figure out who we are.”

“Kokoro said she wouldn’t help them find us,” Nikei offered. “She might be lying, though,” he said in an afterthought.

“If she’s lying,” Emma said, “she’s doing a good job of hiding it. I can tell when people are acting, and I don’t think she is.”

“Kokoro’s not the only person smart enough to figure out who we are,” Nikei said, “If the rest of the class work together, they can figure it out, too.”

“Then why don’t we work with them?” Emma said, “We’ll go to the cafeteria tomorrow morning and say we’ll join them.”

Nikei sighed. “I guess it would be suspicious if the three of us are the only ones who don’t join the group.” He glanced at Emma. “We’ll join them,” he said, “But if this blows up in our faces, I’m blaming you.”

Emma rolled her eyes. Iroha stretched her legs a bit. Nikei huffed and moved closer to Emma so that the painter was lying on both their laps.

“Hey,” Nikei said, “It’s okay. I promise I’ll find a way to protect you, Iroha. I’ll protect all of us.”

~

Nikei knew that the Kokoro he brought dinner to wasn’t the real Kokoro. He also suddenly realized why Emma hadn’t been eating much that day.

“Go visit Kokoro tomorrow,” he whispered through the crack in Iroha’s door that night, knowing she was listening on the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how Nikei is in the group that visits Kokoro for dinner and the next morning Iroha goes to visit? I don't believe for a second that Nikei and Iroha, who probably knew Emma for a while and canonically took acting lessons from her (on Nikei's part anyway) wouldn't be able to tell that Emma was pretending to be Kokoro.
> 
> Another thing is-even if Hajime didn't get executed and everyone continued the killing order, what was Iroha's plan to recreate the second murder from DRA? DRA's second victim got killed because she was trying to kill someone and got overpowered by her target, then shenanigans happened and another person killed the victim because they wanted to take the opportunity. How would you even plan for that? What was Mikado trying to do when he told Iroha to do the second murder? 
> 
> My theory is that, because Iroha wasn't competent enough to do any of the other murders, Mikado set her up specifically to get murdered by her target on the second island, and let fortune do the rest. Unfortunately (ha) Iroha's Utsuro bullshit powers were too strong and she ended up being lucky enough that Emma made a move before Iroha could try anything.
> 
> Also, Iroha's clinical depression vibes are criminally underexplored by the fandom. Like Emma, she admitted to being suicidal as a child. I'm planning to explore a lot more into this topic, which, while I have experience with, I also recognize is a sensitive topic. If I depict something in an offensive way in future chapters, please know that I didn't mean to do that, and tell me about what I did wrong so I can write a more accurate depiction.
> 
> Review!


	3. The Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had this chapter written months ago I just left a week between posting this chapter and the last because I was editing it like hell lol. I'm finished chapter 4 and almost finished chapter 5, and I'm considering adding a chapter 6. I don't plan on leaving this fic unfinished-don't worry.

The night after Emma’s execution, Iroha numbly shuffled out of her room. On her way to the boys’ dorms, a shadow crossed her face. She stopped, glancing up to meet the eye of a surprised Setsuka Chiebukuro.

“Hi, Setsuka,” Iroha said, feigning a smile. The longer she lived on this cruise, the more it felt like everything was a script that she had to loop through again and again. She wondered what would happen if she simply stopped reading the script and lay down and slept for the rest of the killing game. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Oh!” Setsuka said, “Y’know, I was just visiting one of the guys-having some fun, if you know what I mean?” She squeezed her left eye shut, and it took Iroha five seconds to realize it was supposed to be a suggestive wink. “You shouldn’t ask for so many details,” she said.

Setsuka rushed off. Iroha briefly entertained the idea of a murder having happened, but decided that no one would kill someone so soon after Emma’s death. She continued on her trek.

Nikei had no words of reprimand when he opened the door to find an expressionless Iroha standing in front of him. He’d never had any before. He simply stepped aside to let her in and sat on the couch beside her in silence.

Without warning, Iroha burst into tears. Hesitantly, Nikei put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a tense embrace. Nikei had always considered Iroha’s sensitivity and constant need for affection as a weakness and liability. Now, however, was one of the rare instances where Nikei envied the painter. Iroha’s want for affection made her better at giving it. And although Nikei didn’t care about any of the Voids, he would have given anything to have Iroha’s ability to give a good hug at that moment. He would have given anything to stop the heartbroken sobs escaping her lips.

“I didn’t mean to make her go,” Iroha gasped between sobs, “I was making a plan. I didn’t have a plan yet.”

Nikei stiffly patted her head once. Twice. It wasn’t his fault that Hajime blindly believed Mikado’s promise of fortune, he reminded himself. It wasn’t his fault that Emma lost control. It wasn’t his fault that Iroha couldn’t find the nerve to murder at the second island, and was now pushed to murder two people at the third.

If he hadn’t been such an incompetent leader and found more clues to Utsuro, his Voids would still have been swayed by the allure of Mikado Sannoji, Nikei decided. Hajime’s enthusiasm in their newly reinvigorated search had drawn them all in. Emma’s blind trust in Utsuro’s power and determined loyalty to Void had infected everyone. Iroha’s nervous desperation to return to the comforts of their fortune had spread to all of them.

“Do you think she was scared?” Iroha babbled on, “Do you think she suffered?” Nikei knew the answers to both those questions were “yes,” but saying that to Iroha may be too cruel. He simply patted her head again.

“Are you still going to kill someone on the third island?” he asked.

“I-I’ll have to,” she replied, “Mikado will be so angry if I don’t.”

Nikei scoffed. “Mikado isn’t the boss of you,” he said, knowing for a fact that that wasn’t true. “It’s a double murder. Don’t force yourself if you can’t do it.”

Iroha wrapped her arms around Nikei’s chest. “How else are we going to get Master Utsuro back?” she asked.

“What use is Master Utsuro if we’re all dead?” Nikei mused. He was forming a plan-a plan to save himself, and of course Iroha. If they were lucky, and they usually were, they might even be able to escape with Hajime and Emma’s stasis pods in tow and find a way to wake them up. 

This plan had failed, Nikei decided. At least in his attempt to convince them, Mikado had given Void vital information on Master Utsuro. Maybe someday they could still accomplish their goal if Nikei had help from his Voids. The power bestowed upon him by fortune was quickly fading, but at least he still had Iroha. As stressed as she had been for the past week, he knew she would stand by him and cheer him on as he saw the plan through-just like she always had.

“Stay alive,” he murmured, shifting into a more comfortable position as Iroha nestled her face into the crook of his neck. “Don’t kill anyone on the third island. I want you to survive.”

Iroha stroked his back. “Are you killing someone in my place?” she asked, “Because...if you are, then I’ll cover for you! It’s going to be weird to kill someone on the fourth island because that was supposed to be your case but I’m sure I can figure something out! I-“

Nikei was suddenly reminded of a day from months ago, before the killing game was even dreamed of by him and his Voids. It was the third day of deliberation over whether or not they should accept Mikado into Void-a deliberation that Nikei had purposely dragged on. Hajime, Emma, and Iroha all raised their hands in affirmation of Mikado for the umpteenth time. Looking back at the memory of the three exasperated faces in front of him, Nikei thought that that was the moment his Voids decided that their goal of salvation was more important than Nikei’s egotistical want for power.

Shrugging off Iroha’s arms, Nikei quietly stood up. “It’s getting late,” he said, taking Iroha’s hand and leading her to the door. “We should get some sleep. We can talk about this later.” He should have remembered that Iroha was no longer on his side- Hajime and Emma hadn’t been either, since the killing game was created. Nikei supposed he should have been glad he remembered this fact before divulging the identity of his spy to his comrade, but he just feels empty inside.

Iroha opened her mouth to say something-probably to protest against leaving or to ask him to commit murder for her-but closed it again. She wished Nikei a quiet goodnight and snuck back to her room. Nikei fiddled with his hat as he sat on his bed, contemplating. If he told Iroha about his plan now, she might tell on him to Mikado. All he could do is to wait for any information Setsuka may discover for him. That should be enough to win over Iroha’s cooperation. That has to be enough.

~

The students stared at the dismembered remains of Setsuka. Nikei and Mikado wouldn’t stop shooting horrified glances at Iroha. Iroha was offended. Did they really think she had the heart to do something like this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> liSTEN can you tell I ship Nikei and Iroha? They would be a really dysfunctional couple and I don't want them to, like, actually be in a relationship but if you read into their dialogue and actions in the game? Nikei falling silent (possibly out of sympathy) after Iroha tells him Mikado threatened her? (He tells her off afterwards but that's on Iroha for telling him to go kill someone) Iroha almost blowing her cover multiple times in chapter 4 trying to tell Nikei to _shut the fuck up _before Mikado kills him for giving away too much information? Nikei straight up refusing to give away Iroha's identity until the end? Iroha defending Nikei at the end of trial 4 saying Mikado can't execute him because he didn't break any rules and then confronting Mikado about it in chapter 5 when he executes him anyway? Nikei crying when Hajime and Emma mention Iroha in Void theatre? Anyway these two have weird crushes on each other but neither of them realize it because they're too emotionally stunted and no one communicates their feelings in Void.__
> 
> __I tried my best to explore Nikei's inferiority complex in this chapter and the next, but I'm sure there are better character studies of Nikei by other fans. He took precautions against Mikado before the game, but otherwise he was perfectly cooperative up until Mikado killed one of the Voids. I don't think it was Void choosing Mikado as their new leader that lead to his breaking point. I'm sure part of it was the stress from the game, and had he been in a more peaceful environment to plan his revenge, he would have come up with something less drastic._ _
> 
> __But Nikei had to have thought of the fact that even after she saw what happened to Hajime, Emma still killed someone. In trial 2 she said that she would never betray Void, but by that point, continuing the killing game was no longer Nikei's intention, but Mikado's. Maybe Emma didn't mean this, but by continuing the game, she essentially chose Mikado over Nikei, which probably hurt. And of course, Iroha was too scared to disobey Mikado, so even if she did support Nikei, she'd still be on Mikado's side. I think Nikei realized that by the end of chapter 2, which is why he didn't tell Iroha about what he was planning with Setsuka. However, I don't think it was until chapter 4, when Iroha outright told Nikei to kill someone and get executed that it really sank in for him that he was alone in enacting his plan._ _
> 
> __In this chapter when Iroha asks Nikei to kill someone in her place, she's doing so out of the belief that Nikei is still on the same page as her-that they both had to do what Mikado said because betraying him is impossible. At this point, she still believes that Nikei is okay with murder, so she's just bargaining with him on their kill order. In chapter 4, she already knew that Nikei betrayed Void and had no intention of murdering someone for Mikado, yet she tried to get him to kill in her place anyway because she was afraid of execution. At that point, she was beginning to realize that the sacrifices Void made wasn't worth Utsuro's fortune, and her conversation with Nikei was just a desperate attempt to save her own skin. My interpretation is that _that's_ what set Nikei off._ _
> 
> __(Also, at the beginning of the chapter Setsuka is TOTALLY trying to suggest she and Nikei made out. I know they didn't but Setsuka is pervy enough to make that kind of excuse-Iroha was just too dumb to get it. I also don't ship Setsukei considering the age difference but I did think it was kind of cute when Nikei got all blushy in their conversation shown in chapter 6. I think outside the game, Setsuka would make a good mentor/big sis for Nikei.)_ _


	4. The Classmate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch me post this and then disappear for like a month before I post the next chapter lol. But seriously, chapter 5 (which is a LOT longer than the other chapters) is done, but I still need to edit it. I also started chapter 6, and I hope I'll talk more about the characters of Mikado, Hajime, and Emma in that. Here, I go a bit more into Nikei's reasoning for pulling his stunt in chapter 4, as well as Iroha's reasoning behind her cowardice. Of course, both of their actions are caused by emotion as well, but I want to give a bit more reasoning behind their emotions to make them more sympathetic? I guess?
> 
> Trigger warning for more of Iroha's clinical depression vibes and suicide idealization.

The murder of Setsuka Chiebukuro was to be forever seared in Iroha’s mind, she decided, in addition to the brutal execution of the Otonokoji twins. However, she remembered what Emma had told her before, and thought of the positive side as she headed to Nikei’s room. It wasn’t like those deaths were something she hadn’t seen before, in her years of surviving after the Tragedy. She was alive. Nikei was alive. Even if the murder scheme got all messed up, three people still died for the third trial. She hoped Mikado would be satisfied with that.

The first thing she noticed when Nikei peeped through the crack of his door was how stressed he looked. His hair was unkempt like he’d been yanking it like he would when he had a strict deadline for an article and he would have a mental breakdown. His face was gaunt and pale, and his eyes seemed red.

“I know it was horrible what happened to them,” Iroha whispered, “but don’t be sad!”

“What?” Nikei scowled.

“We didn’t even have to kill anyone this island,” Iroha continued, “We’re both okay! It’s-it’s better that Setsuka died that way than either of us, right?”

Nikei buried his face in his hands. Whatever Setsuka had to say to him was burned up in Kanade’s petty rage. How _dare_ Iroha just brush off her death like that? Everything Setsuka did, she did to help Nikei _and_ Iroha, and Iroha just waved off her gruesome end like it was nothing.

There was no one left to help him, Nikei realized. He should have ordered Emma and Iroha to abandon the plan the moment Hajime was killed. They should have worked together and gotten themselves out of this mess like they always have. But then he recalled their disappointed faces as he told them about how Mikado was trouble, and wondered if the girls would have listened to him anyway.

He was the one who started Void, but the group was no longer in his hands. Hajime had followed Mikado’s plan to the very end. It didn’t matter whether he would have sided with Nikei if he knew what they were getting into, because when Nikei needed him most, he was dragged away to his death. Sweet Iroha, the darling of Void, was nothing but a pathetic pawn for Mikado. Said wizard had never meant to help them in the first place, and would probably try to kill him the moment Nikei stepped a toe out of line. Emma saw what happened to Hajime. Knew that she would get no mercy from their mastermind, and yet she still killed. She said she would never betray Void? Emma had betrayed Nikei long ago. She and everyone else from Void abandoned him for Mikado before the game even started.

And now, Setsuka, his handpicked spy, the one who was going to help him save Iroha, save what was left of Void, lay in pieces on the altar of a haunted house. The only person he could divulge his plans to from now on was himself.

He began to say something to Iroha. Nikei wasn’t sure if he meant to tell her to stay or leave. He didn’t get the chance to, though, before something dinged in Iroha’s pocket. She pulled out her student handbook and paled as soon as she read the message.

“I have to go,” she said, looking as though she was about to faint. “Mikado wants to see me.”

An island ago, Nikei would have jumped at that name and insisted on going with Iroha to maintain her alibi or to convince her not to listen to Mikado or even just to flip the bird in their mastermind’s face. Now, however, he simply looked into her desperate eyes and gave her a nod in the direction of the hallway.

“You shouldn’t keep him waiting,” he said, shrugging, “I’ll see you at breakfast.”

Iroha was about to ask Nikei for a reason not to go, or even just to get him to come with her, but caught the resigned look on his face and turned away. It’s just Mikado, she thought. No matter how terrifying he could be, no matter how much she didn’t want to see him, he was still a Void, and that meant he still relied on her to murder. He wouldn’t kill her just for not making a move on the third island.

Still, even if someone saw a lonely girl strolling in Satsuki Land by herself at night and decided to try escaping the island, Iroha didn’t think she would mind too much. The thoughts that she assumed she’d successfully repressed, the thoughts that she hadn’t encountered since before she met Master Utsuro, came flooding back the moment Hajime was dragged away in chains. The looming threat of harm paired with the monotonous days on the island waiting for her turn to die was a familiar feeling, one she had felt a lifetime ago but didn’t think she would feel again. It was painful. More painful than the beatings from her parents ever were.

If someone were to give her a quick death-simply stabbed her with a knife or threw her off a building-she didn’t think she would mind all that much, as long as she wasn’t given any time to consider the terrifying implications of death. But she dreaded being executed-a fate that she knew, no matter how hard she tried to run, would befall her someday. To bring back Master Utsuro, she would have to be found guilty of murder and dragged away to a punishment that Mikado tailored specifically for her to suffer.

And what would happen if she didn’t murder? What would happen if she decided to forfeit Master Utsuro altogether and somehow defeat Mikado? The Kisaragi Foundation had already found their base on Utsuroshima, if Teruya and Rei’s appearance on the first day had been any indication. If she left the simulation without Master Utsuro to help her, what would the foundation do to her?

Since she was born, Iroha trusted her parents to do what’s best for her future, even when their artistic demands made her weep and pound the doors of the prison cell that was her bedroom. When they first met, Iroha had trusted Nikei to lead everyone to fortune. Later, she trusted Hajime and Emma’s decision to continue their failed search. And of course, she had had faith in the powers gifted to her by Master Utsuro from the moment she saw him.

Now, as much as she hated to do so, she had to trust that Mikado would find some way to help her with Master Utsuro’s fortune. Iroha had never gone without someone to depend on. She couldn’t do anything on her own, so she followed the instructions of the people around her. She was a pawn, and she was perfectly fine with that, no matter how frantically the beats of her heart resonated in her chest.

Nikei watched Iroha go, an unspoken “stay safe” hanging in the air between them. There was no need to grieve over this lost teammate, he told himself. From now on, he decided, Iroha was no longer a major factor in his plans. He wouldn’t expose her identity to anyone, and if she decided to do so herself, he’ll talk to her and reevaluate his plans. But right now Iroha was simply a student like everyone else-someone who knew nothing and plotted nothing-a piece on the chessboard instead of one of the players.

Closing the door behind him, Nikei sat at his desk, brushed aside some crumpled papers, and began to work.

~

Iroha’s frantic texts begged Nikei to meet her somewhere, especially since he had stopped answering his doorbell.

Nikei reminded himself once again that she was just another student.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember at the end of trial 3 when Iroha was like "look on the bright side guys Kanade was batshit crazy anyway and Hibiki and Setsuka were unlucky enough to get tangled up with her so we don't need people with bad luck like them anyway!" Yeah what the fuck Iroha????? She only got upset when the Voids died because they were her friends. 
> 
> Also, if you take into account how old the Voids are compared to the survivor trio from DRA, then they must have lived a big part of their lives in the aftermath of the tragedy. In my writing, SDRA2 takes place about seven years after the tragedy and six and a half years after DRA. Teruya, Rei, and Kinjo were about 16-17 during DRA and 23 during SDRA2. The events of DR3 happened about four years after the tragedy, according to some calculations by fans, so I'm going by that. Iroha is about 15 during the events of SDRA2, Nikei is 16, and Hajime and Emma are 17. I'll probably expand on the Void's time during the tragedy in future fics, but I'll be talking about it a little next chapter.
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticism are all very welcome!


	5. The Article

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I'mma be honest with you I wrote 90% of this a week ago and edited it like twice but I'm on a roll babey!!! Keep that fanfic train rolling!
> 
> I also watched a Chinese sub of chapter 5 and most of chapter 6 and wow. uh. The fandom really messed up on the interpretation of some of the characters' actions. Just know that Yoruko is smarter than the fandom gives her credit for, Iroha is more assertive than the fandom says (not that she has anything to back her up), Sora's too sympathetic to deserve being slammed on for being (understandably) rude to Yuki that ONE time, and Kinjo and Rei don't hate each other as much as the fandom thinks they do. (Oh and Kinjo isn't heartless and evil but he DID mess up big time. He's still a Bastard but from what I've seen of DRA, which doesn't have a translation in either of the languages I speak, he's mellowed out a LOT.)
> 
> Also, it turns out Void was a name that Mikado came up with, and not Nikei. In chapter 6 Iroha said that when Nikei was in charge, they were more like a friend group and had no name. When Mikado joined them, he called them the "last children of Utsuro" and came up with the name Void (which is what "utsuro" means in Japanese.)

While everyone rushed to shower and eat proper food for the first time in a week, Iroha shuffled to the room of the deceased Nikei Yomiuri. There was still blood that sprayed on her face when Nikei’s hand was destroyed by the gun. She could still feel the stickiness of bright red on her hands. 

She wanted to run to Nikei. Wanted to stop the blood gushing from his wrist and hug him and tell him everything would be okay. She wanted to scream at Mikado to _stop it_. That he’d already ripped away two pieces of her heart and if he ripped away this third piece she would rip out his internal organs in turn and slash him with her nails until he became a magical pile of mangled flesh.

But despite her fantasies of destroying the man who caused so much harm to her fellow Voids, despite the thoughts she continued to entertain about dying like a hero to further Void’s goal and to finally find peace of mind, when Nikei pointed the gun at her with that sorrowful expression, the only thought that crossed Iroha’s mind was that she didn’t want to die after all.

Was Nikei going to kill her as well? Logically, Iroha could see why he would think to do so. If Mikado, Yuki, and she were the only ones left, who knows what Mikado would do to punish Iroha for allowing the destruction of the game? Iroha could imagine Nikei coming to the conclusion that, even if he didn’t kill her, being at the mercy of Mikado Sannoji was a fate worse than death. Death by bullet was far more merciful than any death that Mikado could manufacture.

Or, Iroha mused, maybe Nikei had finally gotten fed up by Iroha’s childish incompetence and cowardice. Maybe he decided to kill her simply out of spite.

But as she realized just an hour before, anything was better than death. 

Iroha had always lived life petrified of the unknown, but some unknowns were better known than others. Even if Mikado took away her freedom, her dignity, even if he confined her to a prison more maddening than that small room she spent her formative years concealed in, she could still live. She could eat, sleep, and breathe. Even if she had to retreat back into the depths of her mind, she would be alive.

To be dead-that was something she couldn’t even begin to imagine. Would death simply be an endless expanse, a river of black ink to wash out her current life? Or would she be tormented for eternity, to suffer as she pondered her life’s choices? Or maybe she was simply making excuses for her instinctual cowardice towards death. Iroha didn't remember having this entire reasoning fly through her head in the moments leading up to Nikei’s firing of the gun.

Iroha had decided not to die long ago, she realized. Every time she came up with a plan for murder, she would drop it out of fear of execution. It wasn’t that dying was all that terrible, she was just scared. Her cowardice was the only reason she was still alive. She remembered Emma once performed a soliloquy for her with this exact line of thought.

Nikei’s door was still unlocked. Iroha briefly pondered why that was, as Hajime and Emma’s doors were locked as soon as they were executed. Maybe the students weren’t long for this ship. She slowly nudged it open and entered the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

Nikei had made his bed and cleaned up all the scrap paper in his room, probably knowing that he wouldn’t be coming back to it no matter what. Iroha leafed through the papers in the drawer of his desk. Most of it was notes on the students and a few on the behaviour of the Voids. There were some descriptions of evidence used during trials, as well as a record of what happened in the first few days of the game.

At the bottom of the pile, Iroha was surprised to find a folded square of paper made of the same material as her sketchbook. Unfolding it, a sheet of paper from Nikei’s notebook fell out, also folded. Both documents bore the well-worn creases of folding and unfolding, as if Nikei had looked at them over and over.

Iroha choked down a sob. She recognized the scene depicted on the sketchbook paper. In it was Nikei, drawn with loving detail, leaning on Emma’s shoulder with his eyes closed. Hajime and Emma, two faces Iroha painfully longed to see again, grinned at her through the paper with smiles that were one part mischief and one part affection. She herself wasn’t included in the picture, but the subtle reflection on Hajime’s sunglasses, perched on his forehead, showed the silhouette of a round-headed girl seated just behind that window to a better night.

Nikei’s note was his article about the events of that day. Iroha distinctly remembered that the journalist had filled out two whole pages in his description that night, but she only found one page. Reading it, she realized the page describing the events of the actual day, and their interactions with their classmates, had been removed. The only thing left was the article, in Nikei’s almost unreadable scrawl, about the Void’s night time escapade.

Nikei recorded how many push-ups Hajime did while carrying Iroha on his back, as well as how many he did after Iroha got off. He wrote about Emma’s puns and which ones he found funny. (Iroha was surprised that he found any funny at all.) He talked about every picture Iroha drew, and marvelled at the realism of her art.  
He talked about his anticipation of the killing game, and expressed concern over the murders that were to come. He cast doubt on Mikado’s plan, days before any of the other Voids did. He was worried about what plans his Voids may concoct of, and stressed over what could go wrong.

 _The murders that must take place on Utsuroshima,_ Nikei wrote, _must be reflective of the cases experienced by Master Utsuro during the Kisaragi Headquarters Killing Game eight years ago, shortly after the start of the tragedy. While the members of Void are capable of killing, the most prominent challenge will be to re-enact similar circumstances to the current game’s predecessor. Many of the most prominent characteristics of the past cases, examples being the securing of a victim in a forbidden room, the cooperation of a victim to indicate the identity of the killer, or the killing of an unexpected witness, depended solely on coincidence._

_As the first killer, Hajime Makunouchi must take advantage of some gendered privilege or restriction, and leave the body in such a state so that it’s suspended in the air. While no such privileges or restrictions have cropped up thus far, Mr. Makunouchi is resourceful and will find or make such a privilege or restriction. His formidable physical strength will allow him to easily accomplish the strenuous aspects of the murder, as well._

_Iroha Nijiue, while not too soft-hearted to murder, may have trouble coming up with a plan. It would be difficult to plan a murder with so many unexpected twists as the case she is tasked with emulating. The worst-case scenario would be a complete reflection of the second case, where the attempted killer is harmed by their would-be victim, and later murdered by an opportunist passer-by. One can only hope that Ms. Nijiue’s fortune keeps her safe, and that she finds a way to recreate the key points of the crime without repeating the parts harmful to her._

_Arguably the member of Void with the most resolution, Emma Magorobi likely wouldn’t have many problems with the double murder she is tasked with. A second victim can be easily lured to the scene of the crime, and she will be able to come up with a clever way to confuse the timeline for the investigating class. Ms. Magorobi’s skill in acting will divert suspicion for as long as she needs to in order for her plans to come to fruition._

_According to Mikado Sannoji, Master Utsuro’s personality should start to emerge after the fourth murder, but he will stay behind in the simulation to perform the fifth murder to ensure that this is the case. Although most members of Void trust Mr. Sannoji, there is also reason to believe that he is not being truthful on this matter. His appearance in real life seems somewhat different from his appearance in his video calls and in the simulation. Furthermore, even though he offered Void complete and detailed information on all the participants of the killing game, only thirteen occupied stasis pods were observed before the game, yet there are fifteen participants._

_So far, while Mr. Sannoji had offered a dangerous and illegal solution in Void’s search for Master Utsuro, he hadn’t actually done anything to indicate that he intends harm upon the members of Void. As circumstantial proof, however, there is a sense of ill will towards Void that the other members cannot discern. Because of this, I must observe any suspicious behaviour from Mr. Sannoji myself._

_Void is my organization, and therefore, all of its members are under my protection. If anyone in Void is harmed by the whims of Mr. Sannoji, the rest of the members will be in danger soon as well. If Mikado Sannoji tries to hurt any of the Voids, I will personally destroy him, and make him rue the day that he conceived of this killing game._

A jacket was draped over the chair-one of the many identical jackets that Nikei’s room was programmed with. Iroha wrapped the jacket over her shoulders and slipped the refolded papers into the pocket of her blazer. She wished that instead of the jacket, she could be surrounded by Hajime, Emma, and Nikei.

She folded the jacket up in a small bundle before taking it to her room. If someone spotted her wearing the jacket of a dead man, her identity would be discovered immediately. That would mean death, considering the new rule.

Mikado could tell, then, how much Iroha despised him. How afraid she was for what was to come. He could see that she wanted to do what Nikei did and escape the killing game, but he also knew that she was too weak to do it without help as Nikei had. Iroha had been a coward and always had been. All it took was the threat of death to keep her in line. 

The rule had killed Nikei, but it also played its role in keeping Iroha quiet. If she were to confide in Sora, who had seemed so kind, or Yoruko, who Iroha assumed was already beginning to figure out her identity, she would be killed before her confidant had any time to conspire with her to pull anything off. 

And as much as she hated it, Mikado’s plan worked. With the new rule, no matter how much Iroha wanted to, she couldn’t tell anyone about her identity. Even if death was inevitable for her no matter what, passively letting it come seemed much easier than actively seeking it out. She had spent years in the Nijiue household pretending that, if she were obedient, she would be safe. She can continue to pretend.

Then again, Mikado was on the right track to completing Void’s quest. Even if he planned to kill her, Mikado still allowed Iroha to experience something incredible.

She had caught a glimpse of Master Utsuro at the trial. Her saviour-Void’s saviour- was still trapped in the subconscious of Yuki Maeda. But for a brief moment, Yuki’s terrified, confused gaze turned into the blank and bored stare of the boy Iroha had met years ago. She remembered him asking her about her family, asking to show him her art, and asking her about her fingernails, chipped and ruined after scratching the lock on her window for hours upon hours. 

She remembered the peculiar look he gave her, a look that could have been pity if there had been any emotion in it at all. He told her she should go home before she caught a cold, and that he wished that her life would be fortunate. The moment he left, one of her bodyguards, who was luckily in a good mood that day, found her and coaxed her home, where, for the first time in her life, she drew something that impressed her parents.

At that time, Iroha had thought that the boy, whose name she didn’t know at the time, was the most wonderful person in the world. When she got older, she met other children who shared the same sentiment. She learned about how he cured Hajime, how he saved Emma from a monster, and how he found Nikei groveling under someone else’s pedestal and gave him his own to stand over.

Before they met Master Utsuro, the Voids had been useless to the ones who tortured them. With their gift of fortune, they were able to escape from that torture by becoming useful to their torturers. But now, as the world healed, Master Utsuro’s fortune had begun to fade. Iroha and the other Voids had become useless again. They never wanted to return to the torment that plagued them for the first few years of their lives. They needed Master Utsuro’s power. To live without fortune is a life worse than death.

And now Master Utsuro would soon be back, and it was all thanks to the efforts of the friends who sacrificed themselves before her. Iroha wanted to throw herself at his feet and beg him to grace her with his fortune again. It was what Void had died for. It was what Iroha had lived for all these years.

And yet, she would have to make the last move to bring Master Utsuro back. If she made a mistake, she would die. If she did everything right and was able to catch another glimpse of the power of fortune again, she would get executed by Mikado anyway. If Emma was right, she and all of Void would be brought back by Master Utsuro’s fortune. _If_ Emma was right.

There is no reward without risk; Mikado had told them before the game. Unless Iroha could muster up the courage to risk her life, she would get no fortune. Iroha hugged Nikei’s jacket tighter as she approached her room. Somehow, she’ll be useful to Void. She had to be.

~

Mikado told Iroha that if she followed his plan, he would let her live.

If the other Voids were with her, Iroha would have had the courage to suspect him. Instead, she touched the pieces of paper in her pocket and gave Mikado her trust once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of chapter 4 when Nikei said he was going to shoot everyone, Iroha specifically asked if Nikei was going to shoot her, and then "why me" as everyone started panicking. I'd like to interpret this as Nikei pointing the gun at Iroha with the intent to shoot her before anyone else. Iroha offered some reasoning behind that in the above chapter, but I feel that if Nikei was going to kill Iroha, his reasoning was probably a combination of both reasons that Iroha thinks about, along with some good old-fashioned panic.
> 
> Anyway, Nikei's hand exploding after he tries to shoot is usually attributed to some "twist of fate" made by the fortune of either Mikado or Utsuro, but I'd like to propose the theory that it was actually Iroha that caused the gun to explode. Her survival instincts made her not want to get shot, and her fortune powers decided the best way to do that was to explode Nikei's hand. She was already lucky enough to have survived this far into the game, so why wouldn't she be lucky enough to not get shot? 
> 
> Nikei didn't plan on shooting Mikado or Yuki because he was wary of their fortune powers getting in the way. But he forgot that Iroha also had fortune powers, too. (Also Sora, but no one knew that at that point) Like I said last chapter, Nikei spent all of chapter 4 planning with the assumption that Iroha would just act like the other students. But if he included Iroha in his plans or even just told her to "stay out of my way I'm planning something" she probably wouldn't have accidentally interfered in everything like she did. If he didn't try to shoot Iroha, he might have killed some people before Mikado put an end to the whole ordeal (as horrible as that thought is.) Poor Nikei. He didn't take Iroha into account in his plans, and died because of it.
> 
> I also tried to interpret Iroha's relationship with Utsuro. We know that Mikado felt some sort of destructive tendency towards him, and that Akane was just. REALLY horny. I like that one idea someone proposed about the Voids and Utsuro and Akane representing the seven deadly sins. I tried to convey the idolization vibes I got from Mikado and Akane talking about Utsuro, and added in Iroha's lazy, childish way of interpreting Utsuro's blessing. Let me know if it worked, because I was trying to make Iroha's dependency on fortune kind of disturbing and I'm not sure if I achieved that.
> 
> Comments and constructive criticism is very welcome!


	6. The Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy it's me back from the DEAD babes! University just started today and holy SHIT profs talk fast. I'm gonna post this last chapter which I've edited like 80 times now before the homework starts piling up. Expect radio silence from me until next summer. Or at least winter break.
> 
> I watched a really good Chinese translation of SDRA2's chapter 6 up to the start of the trial, so now I have a pretty good idea of what Mikado's backstory is and a better understanding of his character. Yes he is horrible for tricking the other Voids and starting the killing game but in a perfect world he deserves redemption too.
> 
> (In a perfect world he would stay at least 300 feet away from the rest of the Voids at all times and get some damn therapy.)
> 
> Also in this chapter I talked a lot about how much the Voids all rely on their fortune. Kudos to Linuj for incorporating the concept of magical bullshit into the story so well because in LITERALLY any other context most of the stuff the Voids did with their murder plans would be basically impossible. But because the Voids had the power of bullshit they literally got lucky. Every damn time.

Mikado watched as the last surviving students of the Utsuroshima killing game were dragged off to their deaths. He wondered if the personality data of the Voids had been erased along with everyone else’s. Their deaths should have been traumatic enough that their brains would interpret it as the real thing-Mikado had made sure of it. Still, the knowledge of the simulation combined with the blessing they received from Master Utsuro may have allowed their data to linger a bit more.

But the Voids’ fading fortune couldn’t help them forever. Once their data is deleted, it would take a miracle to bring them back. Mikado had heard of such a miracle taking place on another island, years ago, but this miracle would not happen here. Once he receives Master Utsuro’s powers, he would do everything in his power to ensure that these children, hungry for fortune like he, would not live to contest his power.

The Voids didn’t know how to use the powers they were blessed with. Their pathetic excuses for wanting fortune were a waste of Master Utsuro’s powers. They wanted to never get sick again, wanted more money than anyone could spend in a lifetime, to be respected as a superior and never looked down on, to be given love and the luxuries of life through no effort of their own.

Fortune invited Hajime Makunouchi to plan a party for the students. Fortune made Hajime’s victim announce his blatant gender bias. Hajime trusted fortune to wake his victim up from his drugged stupor as soon as help arrived, and to protect him from being injured from a several-story fall. And in the end, even fortune couldn’t save Hajime from Mikado’s betrayal.

Fortune made the noisy concert that blocked out Emma Magorobi’s attack. Fortune made Emma’s victim’s guard look away at the most crucial moment. Using fortune, Emma fooled everyone into believing her assumed identity, yet it didn’t stop her from snapping at her victim’s relentless prodding. If she were still favoured by fortune, Emma would have stayed in character until the end, and saved her dignity.

Fortune did not favour Nikei Yomiuri when his spy was dismembered and her secrets burned to ash. Fortune was wrangled in by Nikei to allow his hostage to wake up and assume the worst before his victim could explain what was happening, and to allow the wall to collapse on them, forcing the hostage to kill. But fortune was used against him in the form of another Void’s would-be victim. Like his right hand, Nikei’s plan was ruined by cruel fortune before it could ruin Mikado’s plan.

Fortune had forced Emma’s hand to murder during Iroha Nijiue’s turn. Fortune saved Iroha from being drugged or shot or anything else the students on Utsuroshima did to harm her. Iroha’s attempted murder, pathetic as it was, foiled Nikei’s plan to ruin the killing game because fortune favoured Iroha over Nikei. Iroha Nijiue had the most powerful fortune out of the four Voids, but luckily, she had no idea how to use the powers she was gifted with.

Mikado didn’t know what he felt towards the Voids. Professor Kurokawa had tried her best to program him with the entire depth of her research, but it seemed that some emotions simply couldn’t be replicated by a machine such as him. From his video conferences with the Voids, in addition to the footage he analyzed of them interacting with Syobai Hashimoto pretending as him, the Voids mostly treated him with a cautious friendliness. All of them followed his plans, but there seemed to be something missing in his interactions with the Voids that he could plainly see in their interactions with each other.

Damn those kids. They were given talents that gave them love. Love from parents and coworkers as young children and then love from the agents of despair and their crazed followers that enlisted them in the wake of the tragedy. Their fortune even had the audacity to lead them to each other- peers their age with the same pain and grievances that they could bond over, become friends over.

It wasn’t enough, Mikado thought. And he thought the Voids knew this as well. They were happy, sure, but what was “happiness” compared to the scope of power held by Master Utsuro?

Mikado hadn’t felt “happiness” many times since his creation, although he was certainly programmed with the feeling. Moments of bliss were fine and all, but there’s something more he had to achieve. That’s the whole reason he was created. 

He wondered if the original Mikado Sannoji had felt happiness before.

Mikado had made an attempt at friendship already. Officially, his reason for hiding his mastermind status was that he wanted to get close to Yuki Maeda like Akane Taira did the first time. His other reason, and he hated the fact that he had this reason, was that he wanted to get close to the other students as well- as an experiment, he told himself. He wanted to see what the big deal was-why the Voids seemed happier than he could ever be when they were together.

Too bad he couldn’t go through with it-not after the intervention by the two agents from Kisaragi. It was the fault of those brats. They must have been followed from their boat. Or maybe it was Syobai that betrayed him.

The friendship between the Voids had become a liability to their plan. Mikado couldn’t tell them that culprits would be executed before the game because that would cause the Voids to fear for their lives. And once a Void was executed in the game, the others would turn on him.

That was why he ordered Hajime to kill first. All his strength and bravado depended on him impressing his little friends. He was less trusting of Mikado’s plan than Emma, more trusting of his fellow Voids than Nikei, and unlike Iroha, he was bold enough to pursue Mikado’s betrayal. Had another Void been executed in Hajime’s place, he would have rallied the remaining Voids to tear apart Utsuroshima pixel by pixel.

Iroha, cowardly as she was, could muster up the will to murder. The problem was she wasn’t smart enough to set up a complicated murder plan. She also wasn’t strong, so her victim would have most likely overpowered her anyway. She was meant to die as a victim on the second island, reflective of the second case in Master Utsuro’s game. That was another reason Hajime couldn’t have been allowed to leave the simulation-with support from outside, who knows what kind of trouble Emma and Nikei would have landed Mikado in?

What Mikado hadn’t accounted for was Iroha’s overpowering fortune. Emma had murdered an island too early because Iroha was scared to. Out of the Voids, Emma was the only one with the determination in the plan and the improvisational skills to manage the murders of two people without showing her guilt. She believed in Mikado when he said Master Utsuro’s powers would bring back the dead. It was flattering, Mikado thought, that his programmed emotions could lead even the Ultimate Actress to believe that he intended to bring the Voids back at all.

The only predictable one was Nikei, who was cooperative and friendly up until the first trial; all while glaring daggers at Mikado for taking away his authority. The moment the first Void died, regardless of whom, he would begin his revenge plot but hesitate to act without enough information. It would drive away his remaining Voids and drag on until the familiar terrain that was the fourth island. Then, pushed to the brink, he would act out his “foolproof” plan that would be foiled with even Mikado’s meager fortune. After accidentally re-enacting his assigned case perfectly, he’ll be executed mid-tantrum, hating Mikado till the end.

But no. Iroha had to wait too long to kill. Emma had to lose her temper. And now, the game was no longer the perfect recreation Mikado wanted it to be.

Mikado decided that he hated the Voids. They claimed that their lives were hell, but they had the opportunity to meet Master Utsuro-to speak with him, even. They were protected even after his death because Master Utsuro cared about them- more than he ever cared about Mikado. Perhaps in his final moments, Master Utsuro had hoped that Hajime was being active. That Emma had found a good income. That Nikei was taking charge. That Iroha was being cared for. Mikado doubted that Master Utsuro even saw him that fateful night. He would have thought nothing of Mikado at the end.

The Voids were blessed with more Fortune than Mikado could ever hope for. After the fire, he had struggled his way into adulthood. He discovered the wonders of computer programming, somehow managed to survive the tragedy, and found a woman who would help him achieve his goals. 

Fortune led Mikado Sannoji to the data chip that mentioned Master Utsuro’s name. Fortune helped him retrieve the deleted killing game data from the ruins of Hopes Peak. Fortune helped him find the Voids and rescue Yuki Maeda from the prison Master Utsuro had abandoned him in.

But then again, fortune had allowed his computer program to kill his real-life counterpart. Mikado wondered if that meant his fortune had overpowered that of his real self.

Mikado shook his head. It didn’t matter anymore anyway. The point was he hated the Voids. He hated them for how happy they were and how fortunate they were and how closed their group was. He hated Hajime for every time he invited Nikei to a “manly activity” and not Mikado. He hated Emma for every time she shared her puns with the rest of Void, conveniently out of earshot of who she thought was Mikado. He hated Nikei for every time he tried to tell his team about Mikado’s harmful intentions. He hated Iroha for allowing her friends, who loved her and protected her to the end, to die just so she could grovel for her own worthless existence.

And now, Mikado thought with satisfaction, the Voids, the Children of Utsuro, the children that Utsuro wished his fortune upon in the end, would be gone. Hajime, Emma, and Nikei would be deleted sooner or later. And by the end of this whole affair, Iroha, even if she survived the execution, wouldn’t be able to escape his clutches.

When Mikado received the gift of godhood, he would ascend past all of them. Ascend past love and happiness and sleepovers and friendship. Ascend past the pitiful children who were sent back to hell.

~

Iroha left Nikei’s jacket behind when the Monocruise was destroyed. After her rescue from execution, she placed her hand in her pocket.

The two pieces of paper were gone.

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The burned remnants of the Monocruise, when the rest of the world faded into pixels, faded along with it. Within the ship, the room of a long-gone journalist, with papers stacked neatly and bed made and a jacket missing from the chair that it was draped on, dissolved into lines of code.

Gone was the journalist's room, along with the memory of the time spent together between four happy teenagers who had forsaken their fortunate lives in favour of a heaven that never existed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. Mikado is a rat bastard who relishes in the pain of other HOWEVER based on the way he treats the other students when he's not terrorizing the shit out of them makes me think he really does want friends deep down. Out of all the Voids, he also hates Nikei the most because Nikei not only tries to foil his plans, but also excludes him the most from their group. Basically when Mikado hired Kokoro she should have taken one look at him and put his ass into therapy and none of this would have happened.
> 
> Honestly, if when the rest of the Voids came to work with Mikado Kokoro also put their asses in therapy none of this would have happened either.
> 
> I can't believe I finished this story! It's the first multichapter fic that I've finished before! Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, bookmarked, or whatever-ed. I appreciate it so much! The SDRA2 fandom is really small, so I'd like to contribute to it small number of fics in whatever what I can. I'm so happy to know that even though it's a fairly niche fandom, I'll still have a supportive audience!
> 
> I definitely have more fics on SDRA2 planned (mostly centered around the Voids) but with school happening it'll probably be a while until I post any of them. Thanks for reading, guys, and remember to review!

**Author's Note:**

> Listen folks just because Nikei was mean to Hajime and Emma in Void Theatre doesn't mean he doesn't care-he's just a tsundere!!!!!!! Also you CANNOT tell me that these guys spent probably years working together (and telling each other about their trauma) and DIDN'T become best friends/a found family that has no regard for personal space.
> 
> I'm always up for constructive criticism! Please review! And rant with me about how much the Voids care for each other!


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